The European Commission will launch tomorrow an easy-to-use website to help public authorities and anyone who cares about the environment choose the cleanest and most energy-efficient vehicles available. The Clean Vehicle Portal – available on http://www.cleanvehicle.eu– will be of great help as a newdirective on the promotion of clean and energy efficient vehicles1 requires that from this month all purchases of vehicles for public transport services take into account energy consumption, CO2 emissions and pollutant emissions. It provides information on legislation for clean and energy-efficient vehicles on EU level and in all Member States; it provides access to technical data in the largest vehicle database in Europe; and it facilitates joint procurement.

Vice-President Siim Kallas, responsible for transport, said: "This directive and this website will give a boost to clean and energy-efficient technologies by showing the real cost of using vehicles. Not only should the initial purchase cost be considered, but also the vehicle's lifetime energy consumption and pollutant emissions. In line with our policy to price in all costs, it makes sense to go for the greener option. This website will be a great aid in identifying these greener and more efficient vehicles."

The directive requires the public sector to use their purchasing power to promote clean and energy-efficient vehicles. It thereby represents an important stepping stone to attaining the EU's 2020 goals on energy efficiency, CO2 emissions and renewable energies. The aim is to stimulate the market for clean and energy-efficient vehicles and to prompt development and investment by the industry. Increased sales will help reduce costs through economies of scale and will result in progressive improvement in the energy and environmental performance of the whole available vehicle fleet.

The cost of energy consumption and environmental impact of vehicles are of major importance to professional and private users. This is why the new Clean Vehicle Portal covers everything from passenger cars, light- and heavy-duty vehicles to buses. It provides information on the different technologies and on energy consumption and emissions of the vehicles available on European markets. It gives an overview of existing procurement rules and incentive schemes for clean and energy-efficient vehicles in the different Member States, and offers support to joint public procurement.

The development of the Clean Vehicle Portal was managed by the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI).